EPA, DEC to explain why Camillus sediment disposal plan poses no risk to the public

Geddes, NY -- Federal and state environmental officials will meet with the public Thursday to talk about a study of possible health risks posed by a plan to bury contaminated Onondaga Lake sediment in Camillus.

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency, which prepared the health risk assessment, said the plan to bury sediment at Wastebed 13, an old AlliedSignal dumping ground off Airport Road, posed no risk to the public.

The assessment had been requested by Camillus residents and officials, backed up by the offices of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei.

The plan to bury sediment in Wastebed 13 is part of the estimated $451 million Onondaga Lake cleanup being paid for by Honeywell International.

If you go ....

What: EPA-DEC open house and public meeting on results of health risk assessmentWhere: Martha Eddy Room, fairgrounds, GeddesWhen: Open house, 5:30 p.m.; public meeting 6:30 p.m. Details: Residents can talk informally with federal and state officials during the open house. Officials will answer written questions during the public meeting.

Alex Abdo, a homeowner who lives near Wastebed 13, said the assessment did not address many of the issues that concern residents.

“There’s a ton of problems with it,” he said.

Opponents say the sediment contains mercury, PCBs and other hazardous material and should not be buried in a residential area.

The plan to bury the sediment was made public in 2004, and in the intervening years residential housing has been built in the area just under a mile from the wastebed.

Abdo said the Camillus Community Coalition, which opposes the sediment plan, wants the EPA and Honeywell to look at chemical oxidation and nanotechnology to absorb metal contaminants, not simply bury them.

Camillus resident and engineer Mark Tracy, who along with other from town has met with EPA regional director Judith Enck, and she seemed receptive to looking into using so-called green technology to treat the sediment.

He said the DEC is using chemical oxidation at a contaminated site on Gerelock Road in Geddes, although in Geddes the technique is being used on soil. It hasn’t been tested on a sediment slurry envisioned in the Onondaga Lake cleanup.

Tracy said it’s worth investigating whether it can be used on the sediment.

“We’re trying to innovate. . . . The technology has been advancing quite rapidly,” he said.